OTHELLO

By William Shakespeare
Written in 1622
Comments by Bob Corbett
July 2009
General Note: In January 2009 I decided that Id like to go back and read all the plays
of William Shakespeare, perhaps one a month if that works out. I hadnt read a
Shakespeare play since 1959, 50 years ago! But I had read nearly all of them in
college. I wanted to go back, start with something not too serious or challenging, and
work my way through the whole corpus. Thus I began with The Two Gentlemen of
Verona. At this time I have no idea how the project will go, nor if it will actually lead
me through the entire corpus of Shakespeares plays. However, I will keep a separate
page listing each play Ive read with links to any comments I would make of that
particular play. See: List of Shakespeares plays Ive read and commented on
COMMENTS ON
OTHELLO
Oh me, what a play. About the only person connected with it who doesnt die is the
stage manager and were not sure about that person! Iago has to be one of the most
evil and clever villains of all literature. The play is gripping in the suspense of how
Iago will carry out his evil jealousy, and astonishing in the cleverness of his mischief.
Othello is the head of the army of Venice. He is a moor, a black man of North African
roots. He is the beloved of the Duke of Venice, and has won the beautiful Desdamona
as his wife. His chief aide, and a man Othello regards as his closest male friend, Iago,
the old one, is jealous of Othellos success.
Like many villains Iago doesnt do his own dirty work, rather he weaves carefully
drawn nets and involves many innocent, or relatively innocent folks, to do his horrors.
There is his wife who is drawn in, and ironically, even Desdamona herself, who so
loves Othello. A somewhat less savory character, Roderigo would like to have
Desdamona for himself, as would the much more innocent and decent Cassio.
However, Cassio and Othello have slightly fallen out and Iago milks this
misunderstanding for his purposes.
Emilia, Iagos wife, sort of reveals the central theme of the play very early on.
Desdamona is worried about someone being jealous of Othello and Emilia tells her
about jealous people:

They are not jealous for a cause,

But jealous for theyre jealous. It is a monster
Begot upon itself, born as itself.
But Shakespeare lets Iago reveal the source of his jealousy; he doesnt believe
Othellos reputation is well deserved:
Reputation is an idle and most false imposition.
Oft got without merit and lost without deserving.
Othello is like a fish in a fish bowl for Iago. He is completely taken in and reveals his
trust to Iago, just in case he needed to be embolden!
And weightst thy words before thou givst them breath,
Therefore these stops of thine fright me the more
For such things in a false disloyal knave
And tricks of custom, but in a man thats just
Theyre close dilations, working from the heart
That passion cannot rule.
Othello doesnt realize his insight is more to be directed AT Iago about himself, not
about another. In fact, Iago understands that he has Othello so convinced of his
trustworthiness, that he can ironically reveal to Othello:
O beware, my lord, of jealousy
It is the green eyed monster which doth mock
The eat it feeds on. The cuckold lives in bliss
Who certain of his fate, loves not his wronger;
But O, what damned minute tells he oer
Who dote yet doubts suspects, yet soundly lovers!
For us today reading Othello there can be no real surprises. The story is so much a
part of our cultural history that even if one couldnt give an accurate summary of the
play, one knows of Iago, the cultural figure of betrayal and evil, and knows from the
earliest lines of the play that Othello is doomed.
Yet going back now, some 50 plus years since first I read the play, I was gripped by
the drama of it; dreading what was coming, and little by little as Shakespeare reveals
the depths of Iagos villainy, the more nervous does the reader become. A simply
marvelous piece of literature.
Bob Corbett corbetre@webster.edu